Emma Ridley is responsible for the operational and general management of the Hebden Bridge site which carries out Allergen, Meat Speciation and GMO testing at SGS.

Dr Hazel Gowland is a leading food allergy advocate, expert patient, researcher, trainer and a university lecturer. As a food hypersensitive consumer, Dr Gowland informs and shapes allergen risk assessment and develops innovative and effective training programmes.

Dr Gowland’s research includes consumer and business behaviour, the quality of life and cost of living with food hypersensitivity, understanding and recording severe and fatal reactions and the regulatory context of food allergy.

Chrissie Jones is a Professor in Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Surrey, Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Prior to joining the University of Surrey, Chrissie spent 12 years at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School starting out in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, before moving to the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine.

Chrissie’s main research focuses on the design and evaluation of psychological and behavioural interventions for individuals and their families with long term conditions, with specific expertise in asthma and allergy and mental health comorbidities.

Dr Helen Evans-Howells qualified with honours from Southampton University in 2005 and completed her GP training in 2015. Her interest in allergy was sparked by managing her own child’s milk and nut allergies, leading her to earn a Master’s in Allergy with distinction in 2018. She spent over four years with the allergy team at Southampton Hospital and now runs her own private clinic, offering both virtual and in-person allergy consultations, including food immunotherapy services in Ringwood and Belfast.

Passionate about supporting people with food allergies, Helen has founded an online support group, created the EATS Club to help families introduce allergens safely, and collaborates closely with charities. She’s a Trustee and Chair of the Clinical and Scientific Panel at Anaphylaxis UK and previously chaired the British Society of Allergy’s primary care group. Helen frequently appears in media, including Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine Extra, BBC Radio, podcasts, and national newspapers, raising awareness about allergies and anaphylaxis.

Emma is Director of Digital Marketing and Social Media at Dr Helen Allergy. A mum to a little boy with multiple food and environmental allergies, Emma has first-hand experience of navigating the daily realities of allergy life, including triple food immunotherapy. Professionally, she brings a diverse background spanning education, community work, and digital strategy. Through her own business, Figure It Up Digital, Emma also consults with health, wellness, and creative brands—helping them grow online while ensuring allergies and inclusivity remain at the heart of their plans.

Kirsten Berry is the Portfolio Manager for Immunodiagnostics and Food Quality at Neogen, overseeing strategic initiatives across India, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Pharmacology and Biochemistry and brings extensive expertise in chemistry, product marketing, and the food safety industry. With a deep commitment to advancing global health and safety, Kirsten aligns Neogen’s portfolio with its mission to deliver high-quality solutions across diverse sectors. Her work blends strategic insight with cross-functional technical and commercial collaboration, driving innovation and enabling impactful outcomes in diagnostics and food quality.’
 

 
Robbie Epsom knows first-hand what it’s like to live with a life-threatening tree nut allergy, a challenge he now shares with his young son. Over the years, he has experienced multiple severe reactions — including one on a flight, another in the middle of Nairobi Game Park, and a recent near-fatal incident while travelling for work. These experiences have fuelled his passion for raising awareness and improving safety for people living with anaphylaxis. Robbie volunteers his time in support of Anaphylaxis UK, where he speaks at events, champions stronger workplace policies for managing serious allergies, and even ran the London Marathon to raise vital funds. Through both his professional platform and personal journey, he aims to drive meaningful change for others affected by life-threatening allergies.
 

Daniel Kelly has lived with a severe peanut and tree nut allergy since he was five years old. That experience inspired him to create May Contain — a podcast and platform dedicated to empowering people with allergies to feel confident when eating out, travelling, and navigating daily life. Over the past three months, Daniel’s content has reached more than 40 million people across social media, helping to raise awareness and spark conversations around living with allergies.

Zak Marks is the Co-Founder and CEO of Kitt Medical, a pioneering startup transforming how emergency allergy response is delivered in schools & qualifying businesses. Diagnosed at age five with severe nut and legume allergies, he came up with the idea for “like a defibrillator for allergies”, during his final year at university.

Together with his co-founder James, they officially launched Kitt Medical in 2023, offering wall-mounted ‘Anaphylaxis Kitts’ alongside a subscription supply of adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs), expiration-monitoring software, and CPD-accredited training in partnership with Anaphylaxis UK. Today, Kitt Medical operates across 1,000+ UK locations, has trained 25,000+ members of staff, and has directly aided individuals during multiple life-threatening allergic reactions, saving 18+ lives

Helen Allan has nearly 30 years’ experience working in the food industry from initially working in manufacturing and for the last nearly 10 years being responsible for food safety for Domino’s, one of the largest pizza brands in the world.

Allergens pose one of the biggest food safety risks for Domino’s and dominates a lot of the work Helen and her team do to ensure safety of customers.

With over two decades of extensive experience in the food industry, Jatin Patel serves as the Head of Operations at FGS Ingredients Ltd.

He has been a cornerstone of the business for the past 11 years. A qualified ACCA Accountant, Jatin combines his strong financial acumen with an in-depth understanding of food industry operations. He holds a Level 3 Food Safety Certification and has completed Advanced HACCP training.

Iain Ferris holds a Masters in Food Law and is an Assistant Professor in Food Safety, Standards & Law at Birmingham University with a particular interest in the area of legal compliance. This stems from his previous experiences working in the catering industry and in local authority enforcement.

Over the years he has garnered an excellent knowledge of food law in the areas of hygiene and standards through both academic study and practical application. Iain’s teaching at the University includes the subjects of HACCP, allergen management, food standards and understanding food legislation and is targeted at those that want to gain a deeper understanding of food safety and enforcement.

Lisa Winnall is Associate Professor of Food Safety and Head of the Food Safety Group at the University of Birmingham. A Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, she has over 25 years’ experience across local government, consultancy, and academia. Her research and teaching focus on allergen management in hospitality, food fraud, food chain security, hygiene interventions, and food law & policy. Lisa is an active international speaker and conference organiser, regularly collaborating with industry and regulatory partners to advance global food safety standards.

Emma Milne is a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner with more than 20 years’ experience in local government.

As well as advising on and enforcing food hygiene and health and safety legislation, Emma was also the Primary Authority Lead Officer for several multi-site and global companies. This allowed her to gain a deep insight into the operational challenges that such companies face, and to develop a systematic and risk-based approach to problem solving.
 

Caroline Benjamin is the founder of Food Allergy Aware, a multi award-winning business established in 2013. With a strong hospitality background and personal experience of food intolerance, Caroline has become a leading voice in supporting Food Business Operators (FBOs) across all sectors to understand and effectively cater for the Food Hypersensitive (FHS) customer.

Food Allergy Aware provides a practical toolbox of solutions, including accredited training, tailored consultancy, 360° allergen audits, menu and website gap analysis, and mystery dining services. The business also supports healthcare settings and has recently developed a suite of resources for hospitals, including a ward communication booklet to streamline the safe provision of meals to patients with allergies or intolerances.

Caroline is currently collaborating with Jacquie McPeake as hospitality support UK (hasuk.co.uk) to champion the importance of Near Miss Reporting in allergen management. Together, they are campaigning for businesses to formally adopt this approach as part of both food safety and allergen risk management processes. You can read the report by clicking here.  As a result they developed www.foodallergyreaction.report, a reporting platform designed to capture real-life issues experienced by individuals dining out with food allergies or intolerances. By collecting and sharing anonymised scenarios, the database aims to raise awareness, inform best practices, and ultimately help prevent serious allergic reactions from occurring in the future.

Peter Littleton is the Group Food Safety Specialist working for Christeyns Food Hygiene Ltd, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of specialist detergents and disinfectants for the food, beverage, and dairy industries.

In his role, Peter supports the Christeyns customer base across Europe with meeting their food safety ambitions including the management of both bacterial and allergenic risks.

Known for his passion and commitment, Peter actively collaborates with industry bodies, enforcement agencies, and special interest groups to improve consumer safety and enhance food hygiene standards across manufacturing and processing operations. In recognition of his expertise, he received the Society of Food Hygiene Technology’s Trainer of the Year Award in 2011.

Peter works closely with organisations including Anaphylaxis UK, research institutions, universities, and major retailers.

Dr Frédéric Girard, MD, MBA, has been working for healthcare industry over the last 32 years, including the last 22 years as general manager or senior executive. Dr Frédéric Girard has extensive experiences in multiple market segments (innovative medicines, generic medicines, biosimilars, medical devices), in various company cultures (big and mid-size pharma, SME, biotech) and in different European markets.

Dr Frédéric Girard is Senior Vice President, Development Operations Europe for DBV Technologies, a biotechnology company committed to helping children with food allergies live safely. DBV Technologies is developing Viaskin™, a non-invasive patch technology based on epicutaneous immunotherapy, that re-educates the immune system through the skin. The goal of DBV Technologies is to offer families a safe, effective, and accessible treatment option to help protect them from accidental exposure reactions.

Dr Frédéric Girard is Vice President of France Biotech, the French professional association for healthtech companies, and leads the healthcare group for the Foreign Trade Advisors of France.

Dr James Cooper is Deputy Director of Food Policy at the Food Standards Agency. Prior to taking on this role, he has worked at a number of government departments including the UK Health Security Agency and Defra on a range of agricultural, environmental, trade and health issues. His roles have been primarily focussed at the science/policy interface, aiming to ensure a sound scientific evidence base is brought into the wider considerations of policy development. He has a doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Kevin Burge first entered a professional kitchen at the age of 15, initially as a waiter and then as a chef. Kevin has enjoyed a 30 year career in catering, working in Michelin star kitchens, hotels, restaurants and contract catering. This gave him a good understanding of safe practices and processes within a kitchen environment to catering for customers with allergies and intolerances.

Kevin moved into a statutory role within local authority after achieving the Higher Certificate of Food Control and soon became the Allergen lead to ensure the Council was more proactive following the death of Megan Lee in Hyndburn, Lancashire.

Alongside his day-to-day statutory duties, Kevin undertakes allergen audits in food businesses which can be a referral from another officer, a result of an allergen complaint or following an unsatisfactory food sample result. He uses a range of tools to try to achieve compliance including free allergen training, STOP agreements, Hygiene Improvement Notices and when necessary, prosecutions.

Bio-Check help customers with their analytical requirements, either through providing test kits designed for an application or designing and manufacturing a test kit to suit an application.

Their food test kit range are manufactured in-house or by carefully selected, world-class partners. They are designed to deliver a reliable and effective testing regime, and have been developed to meet and exceed legislative requirements. Bio-Check help customers assess where it’s best to use testing to validate and verify their systems and do this by providing a combination of test kits, analytical services, training, consultancy and advice.

This event is designed for professionals who are keen to enhance their understanding of food allergen management guidelines and allergen control strategies. It’s ideal for those in retail, out-of-home eating, food manufacturing, and supply chain management.

The main focus is on deepening allergy awareness and allergen management in the food industry. The symposium aims to provide actionable insights into creating safer, allergy-friendly products and services.

• Beyond the Fear: How Anxiety Shapes Life with a Serious Allergy.
• Safe Workplaces, Thriving Teams: Supporting Employees with Serious Allergies.
• Best Practice: Supporting SMEs.
• Daily Life on High Alert: Navigating the World with a Serious Allergy.
• Clean Enough? Mastering Effective Cleaning and Proving It’s Safe.
• Coffee Shops & Cross-Contact: Managing Allergens in High-Risk Spaces.

Wednesday 12th November 2025 at The Edgbaston Park Hotel & Conference Centre, Birmingham B15 2RS

Tickets are now on sale and priced at £150 (inc Vat), which includes lunch.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for businesses that wish to align their brand with best practices in allergen management. For more details, contact Lesley Ingram: finance@anaphylaxis.org.uk

The event will provide ample opportunities for business networking with over 140 delegates from various sectors, including allergen cleaning in food manufacturing and allergen preventive control.